No talk of suicide in early years

The cult apparently was founded in the early- to mid-1970s.
Former member Dick Joslyn of Tampa, Florida, left the group
in 1990.

"They always believed the body was nothing more than a
vehicle, like a car, to drive around," he said.

In fact, at one recruiting meeting in Montana, a female cult
member told an audience that some of the cult members were on
Earth "for the express purpose of ... learning how to operate
a human vehicle in order to be ready to operate a more
sophisticated vehicle."

Joslyn said suicide was not discussed in the cult's early
years, although members isolated themselves from the rest of
society, and did not fear death.

Things changed, he said, around 1988 when, "There was
discussion we might have to leave spiritually -- in our own
spirit.

Talk of leaving Earth for new 'level'

And in recruitment meetings, they told prospective members
that they expected to leave in a spacecraft soon -- in
"months, or a couple of years."

"We feel like the usefulness of this planet has reached its
peak. We feel this is the end of this planet, but don't know
if we'll depart before this end or after," a male cult member
told a Montana audience.

Joslyn was a cult member for 15 years. In a way, he said, "We
all committed suicide when we destroyed our old lives."

"We all made the major step even back then," he said. "And it
wasn't that big a step in their minds."